The present invention relates to a magnetic tape cartridge driver having a magnetic head insertable into an opening of a tape cartridge, wherein the tape cartridge has a door for closing the opening to protect the magnetic tape in modes other than record and playback. More specifically, the present invention relates to a magnetic tape cartridge driver which accommodates several different sizes of tape cartridges.
Recently, a tape cartridge 21 such as that illustrated in FIGS. 5(a), 5(b), and 5(c) has been used for recording and playing back data. As shown, this tape cartridge 21 has the following components:
(1) a pair of reels (not shown) around which a magnetic tape 27 is wound;
(2) a driving roller 22 inside the front portion of the tape cartridge 21, which links up with the pair of reels via a driving belt (not shown);
(3) an opening 24 at the front of the tape cartridge, for admitting a magnetic head of the magnetic tape cartridge driver; and
(4) a tape protecting door free to open and close, for closing the opening 24 to protect the magnetic tape in modes other than record and playback.
A conventional magnetic tape cartridge drive designed for use with a tape cartridge such as that described above is recited in Japanese Utility Model, Provisional Publication H3-49639.
Referring to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, a tape cartridge 21 is inserted into a tape driving apparatus in the direction indicated by arrow mark 41. When inserting the tape cartridge 21 into a tape driving apparatus, a pair of guide rails 3 disposed in parallel on a chassis mechanism 1 of the driving apparatus engages with a pair of guide grooves 25 formed on both sides in the front portion of the tape cartridge 21, causing an edge 26 of a tape protecting door 23 protruding over the guide groove 25 to engage with the guide rail 3, thereby opening the tape protecting door 23 and exposing a magnetic tape 27.
When the tape cartridge 21 is inserted further into the driving apparatus, the guide grooves 25 disposed on the sides thereof move along the guide rails 3, until the magnetic head 2 mounted in the tape driving apparatus comes into contact with the magnetic tape 27 exposed through the opening 24, which was formed by opening the tape protecting door 23. At the same time, a capstan roller 4 mounted in the tape driving apparatus comes into pressure contact with a driving roller 22 mounted in the tape cartridge 21, thereby rotating the driving roller 22 and driving a reel via a driving belt (not shown) to run the magnetic tape 27, thus recording or playing back data.
While the tape cartridge described above has been widely used, a longer magnetic tape is desired for recording more data. However, to accommodate a longer tape, the tape cartridge must be enlarged, and existing tape cartridge driving apparatuses are not capable of accommodating tape cartridges of varying size. Accordingly, there exists a need for a tape cartridge driver capable of accepting an enlarged tape cartridge, as well as being able to record and playback conventional tape cartridges.
To achieve this goal, as shown in FIG. 3(c), the enlarged tape cartridge should have at least the same width and depth on its tape exposing edge as those of the conventional tape cartridge, and also, the location of the driving roller 22 and the tape protecting door 23 should be the same as that of a conventional tape cartridge. Specifically, an enlarged tape cartridge 31 may be as follows: the tape exposing edge and nearby area have the same dimensions as those of a conventional tape cartridge 21, and the other parts are enlarged in width for accepting a longer magnetic tape. A pair of guide grooves 32 of the enlarged tape cartridge has the same distance therebetween as that of the pair of guide grooves 25 of the conventional tape cartridge (see FIG. 5); however, the length of the guide grooves 32 is shorter than that of conventional type in order to accept a longer magnetic tape. Accordingly, a pair of guide rails 3 has a shorter length. In order to enable the enlarged tape cartridge 31 to record/playback, the tape protecting door 23 should be opened while the cartridge moves the shorter distance along the guide rails 3 before the magnetic head 2 comes into contact with the magnetic tape 27 being exposed.